


in every universe, i find you

by tambuli



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, M/M, ask fic collection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-07-22 20:34:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 1,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19997086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tambuli/pseuds/tambuli
Summary: In celebration of 300 followers (and growing!) I opened my ask box to prompts. Originally I really had planned on just three sentences per fic (for 300!) but somehow, I break all my rules.Bite-sized, ranging from silly to sweet to salty (with tears).A full table of contents is available inside!





	1. Ice-skating

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CryoCait](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CryoCait/gifts), [grandfatherclock](https://archiveofourown.org/users/grandfatherclock/gifts).



> 1) Widojest, ice skating  
> 2) Fjord/Nott (Njord), Much Ado About Nothing  
> 3) Widojest, accidental marriage/polymorph flirting  
> 4) Widojest, Caleb as a cleric of the Archeart  
> 5) Widojest, werewolf Caleb  
> 6) Widojest, broken elevator  
> 7) Widojest, florist/tattoo artist AU  
> 8) Widojest, half water genasi Jester vs pyromaniac Caleb  
> 9) Widojest, teenage meet cute

_xombigirl asked: Widojest, modern AU going ice skating_

“You’ve never ice-skated before?” Caleb asked Jester, surprised.

Jester scowled. “I grew up in Nicodranas okay! It was a beach! We didn’t have water that froze over!”

Caleb smiled. “It’ll be fun. You’ll love it.” And he tugged her towards the frozen pond.


	2. Much Ado About Nothing

_Anonymous asked: JULIA GIMME SOME NJORD_

The Much Ado About Nothing presentation wasn’t working out with Caleb and Jester as Benedick and Beatrice. They were too prone to snatching glances at each other and breaking out giggling (in Jester’s case) and blushing (in Caleb’s case) to ever accurately portray the seething love-passion-resentment of the lead two.

Beau grit her teeth. “Caleb, Jes, switch with…” She decided “…Fjord and Nott.”

Without further ado (ha!), Nott bared her teeth. “I wonder that you will still be talking, Signior Benedick,” she spat at Fjord. Beau felt chills race down her spine. “Nobody marks you.”


	3. Polymorph Flirting/Accidental Marriage

_eyeloch asked: So, I can't quite decide between "accidental marriage" or "polymorph flirting". So I'll force you to make the decision instead, because I'm evil like that!_

Nott looked at Beau. Beau looked at Nott. Both of them looked at Caleb and Jester, who were currently polymorphed and…infiltrating a bevy of swans.

“I feel like there could have been a simpler way to find the swanmay that stole the black crystal tablet,” Caduceus observed calmly.

Nott looked at swan-Jester, who was currently leaning her head against swan-Caleb’s, forming a perfect heart shape. If she remembered correctly, that was essentially swan-speak for eternal mating.

“Eh,” she decided. “Let them have their fun.”


	4. Archeart Cleric Caleb

_superman-unchained asked: AU where Caleb is a cleric of the Archeart from the start and Doing His Best to Be Good, and Jester is VERY determined for him see how awesome her own god is._

“Caaaa _aaaaayyyleeeebbbb_ ,” Jester whined, paint splattered all over her and holding a sculpture of a dick in her hands. “Come _onnnnnn._ One of the Archeart’s tenets is to _celebrate beauty_ riiiiight? Come paint a mural with me!”

Caleb looked up from the paperwork he was drawing up. “Ja, Jester, but Midsummer is coming up and the festival really has to be planned…”

Jester pouted. “You should _delegate_ , o High Priest!” 

Caleb sighed. Looked at the mess of paperwork. Looked at the paintbrush stuck through Jester’s hair.

“Fine…thirty minutes,” he acquiesced. 

Jester cheered.

 _Soon!_ she promised the Traveler, cackling. _Soon I’ll have another convert for you!_

In the depths of her mind, the Traveler laughed.

 _I don’t think you’ll be able to seduce him away from the Archeart,_ he told her. _But I’m certainly willing to have a joint temple._


	5. Werewolf Caleb

_pinkevilbobdoesthings asked: Widojest with werewolf Caleb?_

The red-furred wolf made a plaintive sound, half-snarl half-sob, and Jester felt her heart constrict.

“It’s okay,” she said, as soothingly as she could–“It’s okay, Caleb, I’m not afraid. You won’t hurt me.”

Caleb whined, and Jester took a step forward. Caleb shrank back.

“It’s okay,” she said again. “It’s okay, it’s okay, I have you.”

And she stepped forward, and carefully, ever so carefully, smoothed her hand over the soft red fur.

“It’s okay, Caleb,” she whispered, rubbing his ears, “I have you. I have you.”

_I love you._


	6. Meet Cute in a Broken Lift

_dorcasdeadowes asked: Widojest modern au meet in a broken lift_

Jester jabbed at the button frantically, swearing under her breath. The lift refused to budge.

“Fuck fuck fuck shit balls motherfucker,” she hissed.

The other person in the lift, a redheaded guy with the bluest eyes she’d ever seen–not that she was _looking_ –seemed amused.

“Going somewhere?” he asked sardonically.

Jester turned to him, smoothing her pencil skirt as she did so.

“A new job,” she said. “I’m, uh, a personal assistant. Under Mr. Ermendrud. And I can’t–I _can’t_ be late for my first day, they said when they hired me he was very strict!!! He might, he might fire me _immediately_ if I was late!”

A corner of his thin lips quirked.

“You think he’d be so cruel as to fire someone on their first day for being late because the lift was broken?”

“I _don’t know_!” Jester wailed. “I just! I just want to do well!”

The man smiled–a full, proper smile, teeth and everything, and it was _dazzling_. Jester’s stupid stupid heart skipped a beat.

“I assure you,” he said, “Mr. Ermendrud will understand.”

Jester smiled at him. “That’s a relief to hear. Oh!” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Jester–I mean, Jesenia Lavorre. Everyone calls me Jester, though.”

The man took her hand and shook it firmly. “Call me Bren.”


	7. Florist/Tattoo Artist

_Anonymous asked: florist/tattoo artist au with florist!caleb and tattoo artist!jester?_

“She’s just–she’s always there!” Caleb said, waving his arms around like a demented tube man. “Bursting in at all hours looking for the perfect flower reference for her clients! Is she specializing in floral tattoos or something?”

Caduceus _hmmed_ absently as he spritzed the sunflowers. Beau, who was idly trimming the roses, laughed.

“Actually her specialty is watercolor,” she informed him. “But one of her clients wants a full sleeve of flowers, and you know artists and their references.”

“How do you know that?” Caleb asked.

Beau grinned, the scary teeth-baring grin that she knew always sent Caleb into paroxysms of paranoia. Then she sealed the deal with: “Oh, we talk. About you, actually.”

“M-me?!” Caleb spluttered, and Beau tipped back her head and cackled.

 _He’s so **cute** when he blushes_, Jester had gushed over coffee yesterday.

 _Well, Jester_ , Beau thought to herself, _he’s going to look absolutely adorable when he sees you next._


	8. Half Water Genasi vs Pyromaniac

_Anonymous asked: Half water Genasi jester, and pyromaniac Caleb (so normal Caleb) in an all out spar to see who is superior, only for one to get close and end the fight by kissing the other._

Jester twirled the water whips around her head, grinning madly at Bren. Bren looked at her, politely confused, his hand resting on an open book.

“Bren Aldric Ermendrud! I challenge you!”

“To…what?”

She flicked the left-hand whip towards him, droplets splattering on his cheek. “To an element dance-off, of course!”

Interest sparked in Bren’s eyes, and he put the book aside. “Regular rules? Whoever drops the element first loses?”

Jester smirked. “Of course.”

“And the regular prize?”

“ _Duh_.”

A slow, _hungry_ smile spread over Bren’s face. Smoke began to curl from his fingertips– _that showman_ , Jester thought heatedly, _he doesn’t have to_ –until two ribbons of flame trailed from Bren’s pointer fingers.

A beat, where the only thing they could hear was the birdsong and the rustling of the grass in the meadow, and then–

Jester’s water whips cracked, and Bren’s flame ribbons twisted.

Their elements curled around each other, whirling and whispering through the air, graceful as wind–Jester _yanked_ at her whip, narrowly avoiding the swirl of flame that danced gleefully within range–Bren cracked the flame ribbons as if they were reins, and they undulated in the air–

He took one step forward. Jester, concentrating on creating a twister of water, didn’t notice.

He took another, his flame ribbons still bright red-gold against the sky.

He took one last step. The crackle of flame alerted Jester to his nearness, and she yelped, “ _What_ –mmph!”

His lips against hers muffled the rest of her exclamation, and the water whips fell away, hitting the flame ribbons with _ssssssssss_ and the hiss of steam.

Bren pulled away, smirking, and flourished his ribbons one last time. “I win.”


	9. Teenage Meet Cute

_pinkevilbobdoesthings asked: Widojest meet cute, but they're teenagers._

Caleb tightened the strap of his guitar case and glanced around furtively. No one was looking–everyone was busy setting out their lunches on the grass, or pulling out frisbees and volleyballs for a game before lunchtime.

Unwillingly, his gaze slid across Astrid, who was lying on Avantika’s lap, her dark hair fanning out on Avantika’s leather-clad legs.

 _It’s been years_ , he berated himself, _it’s been years, you should be over it–_

But he wasn’t, and he couldn’t, and–

He just needed to get away for a while. He shouldered his guitar case and headed for a secluded spot on campus.

Wildemount High was a huge, sprawling mess of a school, with many nooks and crannies and forgotten gardens. Long ago, Caleb had discovered a small clearing with a fallen tree trunk, which served perfectly as a seat.

Funnily enough, this clearing also contained wild catnip, which meant the cats of Wildemount High congregated there.

“Good afternoon, Frumpkin,” he greeted one of the cats, who looked at him imperiously from atop the tree trunk. “Would you excuse me–yes, I would like to sit. Thank you.”

He settled on the tree trunk, pulled out his guitar, and idly began to strum.

_It’s supposed to hurt, it’s a broken heart…but the moving on is the hardest part…_

He closed his eyes, letting his fingers play across the strings. Frumpkin slunk to his side and pressed his little warm body against Caleb’s own.

Caleb let muscle memory take over as he sang quietly, strummed softly–

_What if I’m trying, but then I close my eyes and then I’m right back, lost in that last goodbye? And what if time doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do? What if I never get over you?_

_What if I never get over? What if I never get closure? What if I never get back all the wasted words I told you?_

And then all of a sudden, another voice joined in.

_What if it never gets better? What if this lasts forever, and ever, and ever, I–_

Caleb’s eyes flew open in shock.

A petite blue-haired girl stood at the entrance of the clearing, arms wrapped around herself. Her eyes locked on him and she tilted her head, as if telling him, _Keep going._

His fingers fumbled the next chord, but then he found himself again, and the chorus came out of his lips taut and tight. The blue-haired girl was still looking at him, and she harmonized perfectly–

 _What if I gave it everything I’ve got?_ Caleb asked her.

 _What if your love was my one and only shot?_ she sang back.

And then together, her voice soaring far above his:

_What if I end up with nothing to compare it to?_

_What if I never get over you?_

Her last note held, high and sweet, and then died away as he strummed the last chord.

A silence fell over the clearing.

She raised a hand and waved.

He looked at her dumbly, then remembered his manners. “Hi.” He cleared his throat. “Uh. I’m. Caleb.”

She looked at him and smiled, a wan small thing, but sincere. “Hi. I’m Jester.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song referenced: [What If I Never Get Over You](https://open.spotify.com/track/1kqVSbwdlNKsPGv0aehcAZ) by Lady Antebellum

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to send me more prompts at [widobravely](http://www.widobravely.tumblr.com/ask)!


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